Business Name
Owner
Address Line 1
Address Line 2
City, State Zip code
Telephone (land and mobile)
Fax
E-mail address
Date
Table of Contents
Executive Summary
Business Description
Goals
Vision Statement
Mission Statement
Business Overview
Products/Services
Business Location
Market Evaluation
Industry Conditions
Economic Conditions
Trade Area Analysis
Target Market
Competition
Operations
Organizational Structure
Management Team
Marketing Strategies
Human Resources
Risk Management
Financial Plans
Introduction
Capital
Financial Statements
Future Plans
Conclusion
Bibliography
Appendices
Executive Summary
· Write the executive summary last. Keep the summary to a maximum of two pages. Think of the executive summary as your elevator speech to potential investors or lenders. The goal is to catch their attention and persuade them to read the rest of the business plan so that they want to fund your company.
· Start your executive summary with an introductory paragraph describing the problem solved or opportunity tapped by the creation of this business.
· Your executive summary needs to be enthusiastic, concise, positive, and relevant to the reader. Use bullet points and subheadings as appropriate.
· Summarize the fundamentals of your business, such as:
o Describe your product or service.
o Explain the ownership model and management team experience.
o Describe what you learned from your market research.
o Summarize your target market and your competition.
o Summarize pricing.
o Identify your business and/or products’ unique selling proposition (USP).
o Briefly explain your operations processes.
o Briefly describe your promotional plans.
o Describe your business’ most important strengths and core competencies. What factors will make the business succeed?
· Provide the highlights of your important financial information, such as the amount you are investing, anticipated sales for the first year, three to five year projections, etc. If you are applying for any type of loan, use the last paragraph to state clearly how much you need to borrow, exactly how the money will be used, and how you plan to repay the loan.
· If you are approaching potential investors, they want to know what return on investment (ROI) they can expect and the timeline for achieving it. Also explain how investors can exit the business.
BUSINESS DESCRIPTION
Goals
· Goals are destinations, or where you want your business to be. Write two to four short-term and long-range goals for your company. Be sure to write SMART (specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, and timely) goals.
Vision Statement
· The vision statement should be short and describe the high-level vision the company has for its future. Values are often an important part of a founder’s long-term vision.
Mission Statement
● The mission statement should be around 30 words. Write your mission statement from the customer's perspective and make sure it fits with your vision for the business. The mission statement should answer three questions:
○ What does the business do?
○ How is it done?
○ Who benefits from it?
Business Overview
· Short overview of the business.
· Are you a service provider, manufacturer, wholesaler, or retailer? Did you start a new business from the ground up, buy a franchise, buy an existing business, or join a family-owned business? What are your hours of operation?
· Discuss your business’ strengths and why it is unique.
· Briefly describe your target market(s) and how you will reach them.
Products or Services
· Identify your product mix.
· Describe the products and/or services in detail. If you have technical drawings, photos of a prototype, brochures, or other bulky items, reference them and put them in the Appendices.
· If you have a new product that must be developed, include the milestones necessary to its creation—concept, design, testing, production, quality control, and evaluation—with target dates for completion.
· Include your research sources in the Bibliography.
Business Location
· Is your location important to your customers? If yes, how?
· If customers come to your place of business, is it convenient or off the beaten track? Does your location have parking?
· Where is the competition located? Is it better for you to be near them (as is the case for car dealerships and fast food restaurants) or distant (as is the case for convenience food stores)?
· What type of access does your location need? Is it important that your location is convenient to retail customers, transportation stops, manufacturers, or suppliers? Do you need easy walk‐in access?
· What are your requirements for parking? Do you need to be close to freeways, airports, railroads, and shipping centers?
· Describe the type of location you need. Include the physical requirements—amount of space, type of building, zoning needed.
· Is the physical space consistent with your image? Is it what customers want and expect? What is the interior like? How does it appeal to your target market?
· Be careful about purchasing a building or signing a long-term lease to start. Many start-ups run successfully from home initially.
o Are you planning to build? Most new companies should not spend money on construction. But if you do, include the costs and specifications here.
o Or, you may reference them here and include the specifications document in the Appendices.
· Include a scale drawing or layout of your proposed facility if it is important. Retailers and manufacturers usually need brick-and-mortar locations. Describe the equipment necessary to run your business, how you plan to acquire it, and how it affects the layout of the business.
· What will your location cost? Estimate your expenses, including rent, maintenance, utilities, and insurance. If renting, what are the tenant improvement costs to remodel the building for your needs? Will the owner cover them? If not, those costs will become part of your financial plan under start-up expenses.
· Include your research sources in the Bibliography.
Market Evaluation
Industry Conditions
· Describe your industry and its various markets. Is it a growth industry? What are the projected sales and profit margins for the industry?
· Analyze the current demands for various products or services in the industry.
· Identify trends in the industry (both short- and long-term) including customer preferences, new product development, and industry growth. Describe how your company will be ready to take advantage of industry trends.
· Describe any barriers to entry or challenges that you may encounter in this industry. Explain your plan to overcome them.
· Include your research sources in the Bibliography.
Economic Conditions
· Explain the economic conditions in the countries you will be selling. Include the following economic data: jobs growth or decline, new business start-ups in the industry, and the impact of the current economy on the industry.
· Include your research sources in the Bibliography.
Trade Area Analysis
· Describe where your business is located and the specific trade area. Will your trade area be in a specific city, metropolitan area, county, rural community, state, country, certain countries, or global? Create a geographic profile. Include a map of the trading area, if applicable.
· Create an economic profile for your trade area based on economic indicators. Include information such as housing starts, unemployment rates, and business statistics. Are area banks loaning money? Explain why this is a good location for your business.
· Create a demographic profile for your trade area.
· Include your research sources in the Bibliography.
Target Market
· Identify your target market. Include geographic, demographic, psychographic, and behavioral research information. You may have more than one target market.
· Create a customer profile using the target market research.
· Based on the market research information you gathered, explain how your products or services fulfill the identified target market’s needs or wants.
· Include your research sources in the Bibliography.
Competition
· List your major competitors and their locations. Label them as direct or indirect competitors. What are their value propositions?
· Create a competitive analysis. State your competitive advantages and disadvantages with all of your competitors. Go into detail here about your unique selling proposition (USP) and how it positions your business within your target market(s).
· Create a SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) analysis for your business. Reference it and include it in the Appendices.
· If possible, determine the current market share held by your competition and how much of that market share you plan to capture.
· Include your research sources in the Bibliography.
OPERATIONS
Organizational Structure
· Explain the business structure: a sole proprietorship, partnership, limited liability company (LLC), or corporation.
· Explain why you selected this form and include the pros and cons of the type of ownership.
Management Team
· Describe your personal business experience and training/education in your field. Provide specific examples of your willingness to take risks, such as: I volunteered to chair a committee even though I had never done that before or I participated in a foreign exchange program. Include a brief plan for personal development in your business field, such as: I plan to take an accounting class my senior year or I am serving on a non-profit’s advisory board.
· List the principals and other key players who will be employed when the business opens, their titles, and job responsibilities. Explain why they will be important to the success of the venture. Describe their backgrounds, experience, and functions in the company. Tie their experience to the skills needed in the new business. Include their résumés in the Appendices.
· If you have a board of directors or an advisory board, list its members and their functions for the company.
· List your plans for hiring any employees during the first several years of operations.
· Discuss your management plans for strategic, tactical, and operational planning.
· If any expertise is missing in your team, outline plans for continuing education or engaging outside professional help.
Marketing Strategies
· Your marketing strategies for the four Ps of marketing—product, price, place, and promotions— will be based on your market research and customer profiles. Include your research sources in the Bibliography.
· Describe your product strategies and the reasons why your products or services appeal to the target markets.
o Explain the features and benefits of your products or services. How or why do the benefits appeal to your target markets?
o If your product has packaging, provide a description of the packaging strategy. If available, mockups of any labels, trademarks, or service marks should be included in the Appendices.
o Describe where your products or services fall in the product life cycle. How does the product life cycle stage affect potential sales?
o Do you plan to offer or develop new products? Why?
· Describe your pricing objectives and strategies in detail and how you anticipate the pricing to affect your sales efforts. Explain your value proposition.
o Will you use any pricing techniques? If so, explain why you chose them.
o Compare your prices with those of the competition. Are they higher, lower, or the same? Why?
· Describe your place strategy, or the benefits of your business’ supply chain. Explain the advantages of your distribution channels and how your business will compensate for any disadvantages.
o How and where does your business create the products or provide services?
o List the vendors and service providers you need to create your products, deliver your services, or purchase your inventory. Describe their advantages to your business and the delivery process. Include a copy of a PO in the Appendices.
o How will you manage your inventory to avoid a stockout? Where will you store inventory? What costs are involved in inventory management and storage?
o Briefly explain your supply chain, channel of distribution, and distribution process.
§ Orders may be taken through direct sales, in a store, wholesale distributors, brokers, website, catalogs, etc.
§ Products may be shipped, mailed, hand delivered, sold on site, etc.
§ Services may be provided on site, in a home or office, over the Internet, etc.
o Do you have quality control checks? Customer service operations?
· Describe your promotions strategy, which is how you plan to promote your business to the customers in your target markets. Reference your first year promotional plan here and include it in the Appendices. Explain why you chose the indicated promotional mix. Are you an online business?
o Advertising: What forms of media will you use and how will you get the most value for your budget. Include the advertising budget, creative message(s), and a media schedule for the first three to six months.
o Sales promotion: Will you hold special sales? Include a description of your collateral marketing materials and how/when you plan to use them. These may include brochures, flyers, newsletters, discount coupons, contests, frequent-user cards, catalogs, loyalty programs, giveaways, and dealer incentives.
o Public relations: Will you send press releases and media packets yourself or hire someone to do it? Describe your grand opening and other events that are of interest to the media. Describe which media outlets you will target and how often will you send press releases.
o Personal selling: Explain how you personally, or your salespeople, plan to generate leads and/or customers. Will you be at trade shows and other venues to talk about your business and sell products? Will you have your own salespeople or hire agents or independent representatives? Will that change based on the product life cycle?
o Electronic promotion: Explain how you plan to use electronic promotions as a part of the other four types of promotion. Almost every business uses its website as a promotional tool. Social media is free, so explain how you will use it to reach your target market(s). Will you utilize paid search engine optimization tools, such as Google AdWords or other Internet advertising venues? Will you utilize e-mail or other electronic campaigns?
o Budget: Create a spreadsheet for the marketing budget. Be sure to do your research and use realistic costs. Any money spent on promotion before you open will go into start-up expenses and any money spent after opening day will go into the cash flow worksheet.